Are Obama's Policies Protecting Us?

Amidst all the news about the turmoil in the Middle East, first in Bahrain and Egypt and now in Libya, the media has largely refused to acknowledge Obama’s desire to cut funding for overseas contingency operations by $41.5 billion in the next Defense Department budget. Overseas contingency operations, in case you don’t speak bureaucratese, is the Obama administration’s new catchphrase for the global war on terror. Now, why would the president of America decide to cut the budget to fight terrorism and Muslim extremism just as the entire world watches the Middle East erupt into turmoil?

It doesn’t seem logical or in any way sensible, but that’s because only because Obama isn’t making these decisions by looking at what’s happening in the actual world. No, like the rest of the Democrats, he’s living in a world that lives only in Washington. He wants to cut the funding for the overseas contingency operations because he thinks it’ll look better for him politically and he values politics over their actual ramifications. Of course, cutting the funding by that much during such a dangerous time likely compromises American security but, just like Clinton, he probably figures he won’t have to deal with that.

And Obama’s certainly more concerned with politics than the livelihood and safety of American soldiers and veterans. That much should be perfectly clear after he declared that the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act was a “major step forward in America’s treatment to families and caregivers who tend to our wounded warriors,” in a well televised, special ceremony almost nine months ago. Of course as of now, almost a month after the deadline for the program to begin, the bill has yet to be enacted in any way.

The program, which was designed by the VA to benefit caregivers of veterans struggling with PTSD, TBI, and mesothelioma, was supposed to begin on January 31^st but because of the extremely complex and bureaucratic rules have kept it from being implemented. Of course the fact that the mesothelioma life expectancy is only between a year and two years hasn’t caused Obama any concern about the veterans’ wasted nine months of waiting for better VA benefits. Just like the estimated 950 veterans and soldiers who commit suicide each month while suffering from PTSD hasn’t concerned him enough to make sure the program is implemented in a timely manner.

Instead Obama has just trumpeted how great the programs and benefits he is legislating are. First, a week before the January 31^st deadline, rather than work on making sure the program was actually providing benefits to veterans Obama held banquet and press conference declaring that his work with veterans is one of the “major investments” he’s made. Then, he had his wife Michelle Obama go on the Oprah Winfrey Show and discuss how much the Obama administration has done for veterans and lay out ambitious plans for what they’re still planning to do.

Worst of all, Obama could have used the media in these situations as a platform to discuss the seriousness of TBIs and and PTSD and encourage veterans to seek medical help if they experience strong mood swings or explain the symptoms of mesothelioma. But instead of using the media to educate people on TBIs, PTSD, or mesothelioma symptoms Obama was only interested in advancing his own political benefit.